Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Bill Simmons

I love Bill Simmons. He is the self-titled 'Sports Guy' on ESPN.com. But this is no boring sports-only writer. He mixes his sports musings and analysis up with pop culture, what he ate for breakfast, what his dad and wife think about a variety of topics, and mixes in references to his buddies and all of their juvenile nicknames for each other.

The best thing Simmons does is take and answer mail from his readers and hold chats. Here is a classic from the latest online chat:

Heath (NY): No one has mentioned the one thing that bothered me most about Sopranos last night. The loser AJ destroys his SUV, and winds up with a brand new BMW M3. How does he wind up with that car? Tony should have at LEAST punished him by giving him a 1989 Hyundai or something, as a penalty for burning down the SUV and for being an all-around bum.

Bill Simmons: See, I loved that - AJ sold out his "principles" as soon as they offered him a movie job and a car. I'm gonna miss him. That reminds me, was there a bigger TV upset of this decade than Robert Iler turning into a competent actor and a pivotal member of the final season? This was like watching Craig Ehlo suddenly playing 2-guard on a potential Finals team.